The Scottish Executive is facing a call today to be more courageous and creative with its school building programme or it will miss an opportunity for real reform in Scotland’s schools. A conference today will look at a number of reform initiatives, including the development of integrated schools, which bring education closer to health and social work to meet a child’s wider needs and those of the whole community.Children in Scotland, which has organised the conference under the title “Making space: architecture and design for young children”, says integrated schools are changing the way education is delivered. Bronwen Cohen, the organisation’s chief executive, said the approach and the fact that after-school clubs also meant children spending more time in school, were a vehicle for reform, and schools being built now had to reflect this.

Spending on education and health has grown faster in England than in the rest of the United Kingdom since devolution, according to figures published today by the northern office of the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Economic and Social Research Council. The report on the impact of devolution on public policy spending shows that England has eroded the traditional spending advantage Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have enjoyed in the past.”Devolution in Practice 2006: public policy differences within the UK” provides detailed analysis on the choices made by the constituent parts of the UK for the first time and highlights key differences in spending priorities. The research has found that the devolved administrations have supported greater increases in expenditure in areas such as culture and agriculture.